At first glance, a weird and slightly disturbing sight suggested that Terry “Big Show” Scroggins had the legs of a scarecrow stored in the back of his Toyota Tundra.
Upon a second glance, Scroggins had stuffed the legs of a pair of dirty blue jeans, but not with straw to scare crows from a cornfield, or an early Halloween decoration, but instead … in preparation for a trip to the Laundromat.
Yes, only Terry Scroggins, known for constantly tinkering, and modifying everything from fishing rod handles to trolling motor props, would convert a pair of dirty Carhartt jeans into a laundry bag.
“I used to use pillow cases from hotel rooms out here on the tournament trail for a laundry bag, but a lady that owned one of those little hotels in upstate New York got mad at me, so I had to stop with the pillow case plan,” Scroggins said. “Now I just use a dirty pair of tried and true Carhartt jeans.
“Heck, I used to carry my spare outboard prop wrapped up in an old pair of blue jeans, but I finally got a protective case to carry it in. And we did a story one time about me stuffing extra pairs of socks in the door pockets of my Tundra to survive six straight weeks away from home.”
Scroggins’ unique storage and transportation methods don’t end at laundry bags, socks and boat props. He once hauled deep diving crankbaits in a 5-gallon bucket with a lid on it.
“You can carry a lot of crankbaits in a 5-gallon bucket and the lid keeps moisture out, so your treble hooks don’t rust.”
His storage and transportation methods may be unique, but the likeable Florida pro has hauled home nearly $2 million in prize money and qualified for 11 Bassmaster Classics, while doing whatever it takes to survive a life on the road, including dirty laundry.
Amid a fishing trip on the bass-starved Ohio River in the summer of 1987, Alan McGuckin’s Dad told a then 16-year-old “Guck” — “I don’t care what you do for a living, just promise me you’ll do something you love.”
Originally from Pittsburgh, McGuckin considers himself a blue-collar kid, who has been richly blessed to live-out the best piece of advice his dad ever gave him for many years now in the Tulsa area.
After earning a degree in ecology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he placed radio transmitters in largemouth bass to track their habitat preferences, he moved his life to Oklahoma in 1992, where he earned a Masters in Zoology and Fisheries under the direction of Gene Gilliland at the University of Oklahoma, before then embarking on what’s now a nearly three decade long career as a marketing and media veteran in the fishing industry.
His career spans 28 years of wisdom-rich marketing experience working to strengthen brands and increase sales for Lowrance, Terminator Lures, Toyota, Yamaha Outboards, Boat U.S., Carhartt, Costa, Quantum, Vexus Boats, and Zebco.
- Member of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame voting committee, as well as a Board of Directors member for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful
- Co-piloted the Terminator brand of premium lures from its birth to more than 10 Million pieces sold between 1997-2006.
- Has authored and published more than 800 stories on Bassmaster.com, along with several other popular bass fishing websites.
- He has generated $3 Million dollars’ worth of branded digital media since 2020, as a content creator.
- Serves as emcee for hundreds of guests at the annual Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners event.
- Avid angler, who fishes nearly every weekend when not on the road working.
- 13,000 followers on Instagram @GuckFishing.
“Guck” lives just north of Tulsa, OK at Lake Skiatook with wife Sherrie, an elementary school principal who also loves her job, and has a genuine passion for slinging a Rapala Brat crankbait on shallow points and habitat-laden flats.
